


Olympus

by babel



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 14:24:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4266576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babel/pseuds/babel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avon and Blake have a talk after the events in <i>Deliverance</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Olympus

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted in 2008.

Blake could feel Avon hovering around him like a black cloud without having to look up. 

He had expected that Avon would stay away from the flightdeck a bit longer than he had after returning from Cephlon considering the way he'd stalked off, but here he was again only minutes later. Hovering. Glaring. Enhancing the ship's atmosphere with his effervescent personality.

After nearly an hour of Avon's circling -- pretending to check various things around the flightdeck during the downtime as they traveled to Aristo -- Blake looked up at Jenna and nodded toward the exit. She glanced at Avon, then gave Blake a sympathetic look before leaving the two of them alone.

"Right," Blake said resolutely as he slumped into Jenna's station. "Let's have it, then."

A flash went through Avon's eyes before he looked back to the console he was apparently working on. "You sent Jenna away to speak with me? I'm sure I should be flattered."

"Probably. More likely, I would prefer everyone's attention be quite firmly placed on Aristo and this Orac, so whatever it is..."

"You assume there _is_ an it."

"I can't imagine where you find the energy to play games after all those mistakes you made on Cephlon." He watched for a reaction as he spoke. "Nearly got our pilot -- not to mention the rest of you -- killed. That's the sort of thing _I_ would need to sleep off before I returned to the usual nonsense."

Avon didn't respond immediately. He left the console to sit on the couch and pretend to work there instead. "I expect," he said deliberately, "that you have needed quite a lot of sleep lately."

"I always need quite a lot of sleep. I don't generally get it, of course." Blake leaned back in the pilot's chair, watching the indicators as Zen flew on automatics. It was perplexing to him that Avon seemed so keen on leadership without any apparent cause to work toward.

No cause aside, perhaps, from money. Was that enough? The expression on Avon's face when he realized Jenna was missing hadn't seemed to stem from greed, but something far more real. Something Blake couldn't quite fathom in relation to the Avon he was more familiar with.

Blake drew a deep breath. "Mistakes are part of being a leader, you realize. Stupid mistakes. Big mistakes. Thoughtless mistakes... Fatal mistakes."

"Pray tell." Avon turned his head just enough so that Blake could see him in profile. " Are _mistakes_ part of being a god as well?"

"I suspect so," Blake said with wry grin, watching Avon now as he had watched Zen's controls.

Avon quirked an eyebrow, not seeming particularly amused or impressed. Instead, he turned his face away from Blake again. "It is heartening to know that you plan to continue making continuous mistakes as... leader." He enunciated the last word with obvious calculation.

Perhaps it was deserved. Either way, Blake didn't mind these half-hearted attacks any more than he minded the whole-hearted ones. Avon had been humbled in his first real opportunity to prove himself. In the end, Blake was sure it was good for him.

Finally, Blake spoke. "You had your chance to leave. You turned it down."

"Ah," Avon said, gradually rising from the couch to once again stalk off the flight deck. "Another mistake. But is it stupid or fatal, I wonder?"

"I suppose time will tell." Blake said with false humor. He didn't watch Avon go, but he listened to his heels click on the deck as he walked away.

"Why is it..." Vila's voice broke through Blake's thoughts. He looked up to find Vila had appeared where Avon had left. "...That it always seems like a thunderstorm's just passed whenever the two of you finish a conversation?"

Blake crossed his arms and shrugged. "Two Zeuses sharing one Olympus, perhaps?"

"As you like." Vila flopped onto the couch. "Me, I'll settle for being a minor immortal."

Trust Vila to make it seem simple. Just as he could trust Avon to make it complex.

But they weren't immortal, minor or not. They weren't gods. Eventually one of them would make a mistake, and their mortality would be proven. He'd seen enough people die to know that it could happen to anyone.

He'd seen it, but sometimes, he didn't quite believe it.

"On second thought, I expect I'll settle for that too, Vila," Blake said quietly, watching the light of long dead stars fly past in the viewscreen.


End file.
